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In the Studio with Michael Jackson
The inside secrets of Michael Jackson's greatest records by the Grammy-winning engineer who captured and enhanced their sound. Multiple color photos of Jackson, producer Quincy Jones, and all the talents who collaborated to make pop history with Jackson's albums. Plucked from a job at legendary Universal Audio in Chicago, Bruce Swedien entered into a fruitful and historic 30-year relationship with producer Quincy Jones. That partnership culminated in the groundbreaking recordings of Michael Jackson, beginning with The Wiz, continuing with Jackson's breakout solo debut Off the Wall, and triumphing with Thriller, which revolutionized music and video and fixed Jackson in culture as the King of Pop. Now Swedien reveals the technical details of creating those albums (along with Bad, Dangerous, and HIStory) and offers personal remembrances and anecdotes about working with the pop icon. Swedien's book provides an insider's look that will thrill anyone interested in the nuts and bolts of hit making and the history of some of America's most influential recordings. * Large collection of photographs from Michael Jackson recording sessions * Forewords by producer Quincy Jones and writer/producer Rod Temperton
- GenresMusic
272 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 12, 2010
This book contains a TON of minutiae about recording and producing music. Bruce Swedien details microphone set ups and mixer desks in great detail.
If you are looking for a book all about Michael Jackson, you will be disappointed. While it has a lot of good things to say about Michael's passion and drive during recording sessions, there are not many references to him outside the realm of the studio.
There are a few stories that you won't read anyplace else, and 8 pages of color photos that you have seen before, but that's about it as far as MJ is concerned.
Swedien tells you all about the numerous other artists he worked with, awards he won, and innovations made in the recording industry during his 25 years.
While reading this book, I laughed at some of Michael's antics, smiled at the notes he left for Swedien, and was happy to see positive words about the genius entertainer of all time.
MJ fans will find themselves searching for Michael's name and just reading those passages. Tekkies will love the details.
If you are looking for a book all about Michael Jackson, you will be disappointed. While it has a lot of good things to say about Michael's passion and drive during recording sessions, there are not many references to him outside the realm of the studio.
There are a few stories that you won't read anyplace else, and 8 pages of color photos that you have seen before, but that's about it as far as MJ is concerned.
Swedien tells you all about the numerous other artists he worked with, awards he won, and innovations made in the recording industry during his 25 years.
While reading this book, I laughed at some of Michael's antics, smiled at the notes he left for Swedien, and was happy to see positive words about the genius entertainer of all time.
MJ fans will find themselves searching for Michael's name and just reading those passages. Tekkies will love the details.
August 15, 2012
Ok first of all this book is for people really not only into music but music production and gives little insights into the genius engineering behind such great albums as Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad, Dangerous by Michael Jackson and Swedien engineered all Michael adult solo output.
Bruce Swedien explains his life as a engineer with jazz music and his visionary production techniques which made the sounds of not only Michael Jackson albums sonically alluring but many others.
The microphone techniques are fascinating and explain the depth of the music engineered by Swedien and in the future once people will want to go back to old school music technology techniques this book will become sought after.
Bruce Swedien explains his life as a engineer with jazz music and his visionary production techniques which made the sounds of not only Michael Jackson albums sonically alluring but many others.
The microphone techniques are fascinating and explain the depth of the music engineered by Swedien and in the future once people will want to go back to old school music technology techniques this book will become sought after.
November 16, 2023
Petit livre décevant de l'ingénieur de son de Michael Jackson.
On n'entre pas trop dans la vie de MJ donc si vous lisez parce que vous êtes fans, il n'y a pas trop d'intérêt. Swedien revient tellement légèrement sur les raisons pour lesquelles lui et Jackson se sont brouillés qu'on est plus perdu après la lecture qu'avant.
Mais bon, je ne suis pas particulièrement fan de MJ. Je voulais en apprendre sur le fonctionnement du studio, les anecdotes d'enregistrement et tout ça. Ici aussi c'est décevant.
On y apprend que Jackson dansait en chantant même en studio. Swedien le faisait donc se tenir sur des planches de bois pour bien enregistrer le son des pas.
Il raconte aussi comment Quincy Jones a composé, dans sa chambre d'hôtel, en une seule nuit, toutes les partitions pour l'orchestre qui allait jouer le Magicien d'Oz. Tout cela la nuit avant la première répétition. Il ne mentionne pas la quantité de cocaïne qui a été nécessaire pour accomplir cela.
Et... c'est pas mal tout. L'essentiel du livre ressemble à une infopub pour des compagnies de microphones, de consoles et autres matériels de studio. Sans blague. Il passe des pages à expliquer que si notre studio n'utilise pas du filage de marque MachinTruc(TM), on ne pourra jamais rien enregistrer.
Le livre a été publié quelques mois à peine après la mort de Jackson, et je soupçonne sincèrement que cela a été écrit en vitesse sur un coin de table, avec des sponsors, pour encaisser le jackpot.
On n'entre pas trop dans la vie de MJ donc si vous lisez parce que vous êtes fans, il n'y a pas trop d'intérêt. Swedien revient tellement légèrement sur les raisons pour lesquelles lui et Jackson se sont brouillés qu'on est plus perdu après la lecture qu'avant.
Mais bon, je ne suis pas particulièrement fan de MJ. Je voulais en apprendre sur le fonctionnement du studio, les anecdotes d'enregistrement et tout ça. Ici aussi c'est décevant.
On y apprend que Jackson dansait en chantant même en studio. Swedien le faisait donc se tenir sur des planches de bois pour bien enregistrer le son des pas.
Il raconte aussi comment Quincy Jones a composé, dans sa chambre d'hôtel, en une seule nuit, toutes les partitions pour l'orchestre qui allait jouer le Magicien d'Oz. Tout cela la nuit avant la première répétition. Il ne mentionne pas la quantité de cocaïne qui a été nécessaire pour accomplir cela.
Et... c'est pas mal tout. L'essentiel du livre ressemble à une infopub pour des compagnies de microphones, de consoles et autres matériels de studio. Sans blague. Il passe des pages à expliquer que si notre studio n'utilise pas du filage de marque MachinTruc(TM), on ne pourra jamais rien enregistrer.
Le livre a été publié quelques mois à peine après la mort de Jackson, et je soupçonne sincèrement que cela a été écrit en vitesse sur un coin de table, avec des sponsors, pour encaisser le jackpot.
October 24, 2021
This book should be re-visited and expanded. It tries to spin a lot of plates in a very short amount of time -- memoir, recording history/how-to, firsthand accounts of MJ and QJ (not to mention rendom interviews with friends, family, and colleagues). That all calls for something a little more robust than not-even 200 pages.
Still, what's here is valuable -- one of the most admired engineers of all time talking about his work on the most popular recordings of all time.
Still, what's here is valuable -- one of the most admired engineers of all time talking about his work on the most popular recordings of all time.
September 16, 2021
A treasure for any aspiring sound and music recording engineer.
December 18, 2020
This is a very special book for me, I had the privilege of meeting Bruce back in 2011 when I was in college at Full Sail University in Orlando, Fl. We had a little chat and we took a picture and he signed my copy. This book is a MUST for anyone interested in music production, audio engineering, and for MJ fans. Gives great insight into how it is to work with one of the biggest entertainers of all time and also provides valuable information about technical aspects of music production, it's a jewel.
January 24, 2012
Learned so much from this book! Bruce Swedien is a master engineer, and gives such an impressive insight to his work with Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones. There's a reason why Thriller remains the best recorded album of all time; technically flawless and containing some of the best written pop songs ever.
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May 27, 2015This was an amazing book. I am a huge Michael Jackson fan and musician now that I can how Bruce and Michael worked together I can apply the techniques that Bruce and Michael uses. It has the little details that matter when you are recording an album and tells about how many different mixes that they go through to pic the right one. By far this was a good book.
April 7, 2013
Another one of favorite MJ reference books. Very technically written concerning music but easy to understand and the stories are great.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews